One chick’s opinion of Allure of the Seas – 10/14/18 Eastern Caribbean

OK, finally getting around to writing my review of Allure. Not a true TR, as I’m not as dedicated and awesome as you TR people! Heck, my phone was powered off and in the safe the first two and half days, so I don’t even have many photos! This is somewhat disorganized and doesn’t hit on everything, but here we go. DH, DS12, and myself in a balcony cabin on Deck 10 forward. I believe our guarantee ended up being assigned as a 5D. Past cruising experience is Carnival once 20 years ago before kids, DCL in 2006 with one kid, and DCL in 2012 with two kids. DS16 is doing a year abroad so was not with us on this one. I knew we could get away with just DS12 on the fold out sofa; no way would we have been able to also fit 6’1” son in this cabin comfortably as well! I got the kids 12 and under sail free promo back in March, so bonus for us for a fun fall break trip!

I feel that it would be unfair to directly compare RCL to DCL, as we haven’t been on DCL in six years. That said, I spent the first day and a half walking around disappointed that Allure wasn’t the Mickey Boat. As we all know, Disney’s theming is quite thorough and nothing was ‘themed’ on Allure. I was disappointed that nothing felt ‘nautical’. Finishes all around the ship were mid-grade at best and it often felt like one could be in any Hilton or Sheraton, for example, while waiting for an elevator. Of course I realize that this sailing was at an entirely different price point than a DCL, so you do get what you pay for!

We flew into Miami and rented a car to get to Fort Lauderdale. Two night pre-cruise stay at the Bahia Mar Hilton in Fort Lauderdale. You could not beat the location, with the beach literally across the street. DH and DS went on a SCUBA trip with Sea Experience which is located at the hotel, so we were able to book their fantastic room rate for divers. The hotel stay was lovely, as was their SCUBA experience. It was DS’s first real dive after becoming certified, and he saw a shark! That was good enough for him! We saw a Carnival ship and then RCL Harmony put out to sea while playing in the ocean that afternoon and that amped up the excitement to 10 for boarding Allure the next day!

Boarding day we made a quick stop at Einstein’s for breakfast and we were off to the port! Embarkation and debarkation were smoothing sailing. The port staff was so warm and welcoming, you’d have thought that they were about to leave on vacation too! Direct quote from DS while zig zagging up the long gangway, “Wow, that’s a lot of ship.” We were looking forward to our first experience on a megaship, unsure if we’d be overwhelmed. Not to worry, as we learned our way around the ship within a day’s time and it never seemed overwhelming. Pro tip: use Central Park to traverse forward/aft or the reverse; if you walk through the cabin hallways it will seem to take forever!

A major highlight for us was the My Time Dining. We do not like having an assigned dining time so we were excited to just drop in whenever it was convenient for us. Although reservations for MTD are possible, we did not make any, and the max we ever waited to be seated was 12 minutes. The My Timers eat in the Silk dining area, but one day there was better availability upstairs, so we were sent up there. The food was mediocre, as how can food that is prepared for thousands at once be very good? We have just come to expect that while cruising. Even our upcharge lunch at Chop’s Grille was disappointing. The timing of service at dinner was sometimes very strange, with long waits for food, no drink refills provided, and sometimes no coffee offered at the end of the meal. They would ask if we had a show time, but certainly did not time their service to meet that time. Overall, MDR service was just hit or miss.

The first four mornings we ordered from the complimentary continental breakfast menu and really enjoyed having breakfast on our balcony. We dragged the desk chair out there for the kid and left it there all week. The order was almost always perfect and was certainly on time. They call just before delivery and were always very prompt. The last three mornings we went to the buffet and really liked the breakfast variety.

We really enjoyed the entertainment! Mama Mia was so great – loved the sing a long at the end! Blue Planet was a bit weird, but interesting. OceanAria, at the AquaTheater, had to be the most unique production I’ve ever seen. I read too late to not book it on the first night, as it is often cancelled due to choppy seas and winds. It was cancelled, but our reservation was automatically moved to another night and it all worked out. Don’t miss OceanAria! We didn’t even attend the ice show, as we had read poor reviews, and even overheard around the ship that it wasn’t worth your time. As a note, the ice rink is open for very limited hours and requires long pants. The family comedy show on the last night was pretty weak.

We loved the number of pools, hot tubs, and deck chairs! There always seemed to be space, whether you wanted to be in the sun or shade. One pool is open until 11pm and DH and DS almost had it to themselves one evening. Bars and drinks are plentiful by the pool, even starting very early in the AM! We played ping pong and mini golf, but did not do the Flow Rider, climbing wall, or zipline. Once I attempted to get a wristband for the zipline, but their computer system was down. Pretty funny to me that we booked this ship for all those neat things, and DS12 really did not have any interest. If DS16 had been with us, he would have been all over that! But we had a great time regardless!

St Maarten: Gorgeous. Loved it. Loved not having to tender into any of the ports. We booked SCUBA for the guys and snorkeling for me in advance directly through Aqua Mania. All the other divers were from our ship and booked through RCL, of course paying more than we did for direct. Though we started walking to the location and it wasn’t far from the port, DH was carrying over 40 pounds of SCUBA gear so when we were offered a $2 per head shared van ride toward town, we took it. (Rides back to the ship closer to All Aboard time were offered at $3 a head.) Both excursions were great with great boat captains! We then ate lunch right next door at Chesterfield’s and shopped at the Amsterdam Cheese shop. The dive shop let us store our gear there and we walked into town. Picked up some tchotchkes from one of the numerous souvenir shops but our main mission was to get to the pharmacy, where DH had arranged in advance to purchase his diabetes meds with his U.S. prescription. Now that he has been there in person and presented an original Rx, he is able to set up monthly mail order. $90 a month vs. $460 a month for the same exact meds. Don’t even get me started. So happy that we were able to do this while on the island. More $$$ for future vacations! Just putting it out there for those who have heard of doing this and are maybe nervous about it. We picked up our gear from the dive shop and DH hopped a cab back to the ship with the gear. DS and I walked back and it started pouring rain. We were just laughing about it because we had such a great day in port. Yea St Maarten!

San Juan: The port visit was just for the morning. We walked up the hill along with everyone else to the fort, paid the small fee for entry, and had a blast exploring! We could have spent more time there, but we were getting hungry so we walked into town and picked a cheesy tourist place for lunch. True story: we know one person who lives in Puerto Rico, a college roommate of DH’s. We tried to get in touch with him before we left to let him know we would be in San Juan for a day, to no avail. We’re sitting there in the restaurant window seat, windows open, and roommate pops his head in and yells out our last name! He just happened to be walking down the street to run a work errand. We hadn’t seen him since our wedding 22 years ago. Absolute divine intervention! He joined us for lunch, then bought us coffee at a café, and walked us back to the ship. People, you just can’t make this stuff up! So obviously, we’ll always remember our half a day in San Juan!

Labadee: Fantastic private beach experience! DS and I booked in advance for a combo Arawak Aqua Park and Dragon Tail coaster ticket. No plans beyond that other than to enjoy the beach and the lunch. Based on research before we left, we boarded a tram to Columbus Cove because we heard it was not too crowded. When we arrived only about half the seats were occupied. We tipped the nice staff person who guided us to our chairs and set up shop. Snorkeling commenced and I did not think I would get my son out of the water for lunch or our 2:00 water park time. The lunch was better than the food on the ship because the hamburgers were grilled over flame. During our time on the water park inflatables it poured rain on and off. We didn’t much care because we were already wet and DH was back at the lounges to throw towels over our stuff. We chuckled as people packed up and ran to the tram stop. They shouldn’t have left, as the sun appeared again. About an hour before All Aboard we packed up so that DS and I could use our coaster tickets. When I asked a staff person which tram to take to get to Adrenaline Beach he radioed someone and they said that the coaster was closed due to a malfunction. A little bummer, but we still had a great day on Labadee! That evening I went to Guest Services and politely asked if we could have a refund on our unused coaster tickets. She issued a refund to our account right away. Point: RCL.

This is so silly, but one thing we did not like was having the day of the week on the floor of each elevator, changing daily. I cruise specifically so that I can lose track of time and everything else. But on the last night DS stayed up until midnight thinking that they automatically change right at 12:00. He went onto an elevator in his PJ’s, spa slippers, and lanyard and was very disappointed to not see the day flip over right at that moment. In the end, it was a pretty funny memory from the trip!

The crew, as always, works their tails off to give us passengers a wonderful vacation experience. RCL was no different. Tip often and tip generously. Seriously. We always enjoy speaking to crew members and finding out where they are from and a little bit about them. DH always asks when their contract is up and invariably a huge smile crosses their face. Answers like “In four weeks I go home for three months.” We celebrate with them. And tip them. Generously.

Soon after returning, we booked the newer MSC Seaside for next fall break for an almost identical Eastern itinerary. We were able to get a ‘Super Family’ which is two connecting balcony staterooms. DS16 will be back from his year abroad and having two cabins will be a luxury for us, though the price was exactly right for that sailing! Would I recommend RCL to others? Yes I would. Every line has its plusses and minuses; there is no perfect cruise. We always enjoy the people we meet, the plentiful food, and the great ports we get to visit. A day cruisin’ sure beats a day workin’!

Great feedback. Not sure if I missed it but what type of stateroom did you stay in.
Can see what you mean about missing the theming if you loved that with Disney. I assume you still saw DreamWorks around? Seems though that Royal is phasing that out...not sure.
We also liked MTD and found it worked well with the shows. Couldn't agree with you more about the shows. Mamma Mia, Ocean Aria...amazing. Blue Planet impressive but is odd. The Monopoloy ice show was different but too bad you missed it. We enjoyed it. (Didn't hear of the bad reviews).,
Funny..i always liked the elevator mats, but never thought of it that way. Good point.

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We stayed in a balcony cabin for the first time and really liked it! I mean, what’s not to like? We found the drawer and closet space to be sufficient for the three of us. You read so many reviews and comments like “plenty of hangers” and “not enough hangers”. We brought a few lightweight plastic hangers from home and were glad that we did. And we are not formal night people – you will find us in the buffet those evenings! Suitcases fit under the bed and we even put one in the closet under our shorter hanging items. The bathroom was more spacious than I thought it would be so I was pleasantly surprised. Plenty of shelving for our smaller items in there, again this was for 2 adults and 1 child. It took me a few days to figure out how to wash my face at the sink, with the little shelf just above it and the sink at a weird angle, but I figured it out. A/C in the room was always perfect. Good storage space around the desk area. When the fold out is folded out there is not much room to walk past on the way to the balcony, but hey, welcome to cruising. That’s just the way it is unless you are paying for a larger cabin on any line, am I right?

There were a few Dreamworks character appearances, DH and DS stumbled upon one and said the lines weren’t very long for photos. You could also book a character breakfast, which our son had no interest in doing. He also had no interest in the Teen Club; he would have been the very youngest age allowed at 12. We did stop in the club the first night to check it out, but since he did not utilize it I can’t comment on their programs. Being an October cruise there did not seem to be a lot of kids around. I mean, there were kids, but I noticed even in the boarding area that there were mostly adults waiting. With the theming I was referring more to the overall decor of the ship. I love all things nautical and DCL is so very nautical with the art, finishes…..just everything. On our first and last nights in the MDR we scored by getting a table by a big porthole window, and being MTD we were on Deck 3 so the ocean was right there. The porthole definitely reminded me of DCL, but of course I said I wasn’t going to compare the two lines!

Really enjoyed your review! I'm a Celebrity person myself - I prefer that line which is also owned by RCL - since we don't have kids and they're more about the food, perks and ambiance. But their entertainment is a big weak spot. We've done several cruises on X - but always curious about the RCL oasis/allure ships. Gonna try it one of these days.

Great review. I’ve a couple of thoughts:
Agree about the decor. It’s lovely once you’re in the “themed” areas but it kind of stops once you hit the stateroom areas. With DCL it’s almost too much at times. Royal it’s perhaps too little.

I’ve never seen the “family” comedy show, mostly because it gets poor reviews. If I were to guess I would say that the comedians they book are used to working blue and have trouble cleaning their act up for the PG show.

Glad you found Columbus Cove. That’s one of the Labadee tips I always tell people.

With the ice show, “Dragon” is terrible and you didn’t miss much there. The Game Show one is better, but there’s only so much you can do on such a small ice surface.

Sounded like you had a good time with your balcony breakfasts. If you go again try the (free) breakfast at Johnny Rockets on the Boardwalk. Really enjoyable imo.

It took me a few days to figure out how to wash my face at the sink, with the little shelf just above it and the sink at a weird angle, but I figured it out. A/C in the room was always perfect. Good storage space around the desk area. When the fold out is folded out there is not much room to walk past on the way to the balcony, but hey, welcome to cruising. That’s just the way it is unless you are paying for a larger cabin on any line, am I right?

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Thanks for your review! We were on the same sailing. I agree about that little shelf. I liked having the space, but started putting a towel on the floor when I washed my face because I got water everywhere We had a connecting room with my parents and their bathroom didn't have the little shelf. Apparently, it's only in the rooms with the couch that folds out. Something we did that worked out awesome was we brought a shower curtain and strong magnets so we could hang a curtain between our bed and the kiddos (we too have one child, an 11-year old). He loved having some privacy (even though it didn't really block sound or light).

I'm surprised you didn't have a third chair on your balcony. We had the two by the table and then a third kind of in the corner. Maybe an oversight on their part?

We really enjoyed most of the food in the MDR. But lately we've been sailing NCL and their food is very meh. So RCL was a step up for us food-wise. I did think my lasagna was yucky and we had one steak that was all fat, but other than that we were pleased.

We thought both ice shows were pretty bad and definitely not worth the time. We loved the free breakfast at Johnny Rockets and we really liked the buffet breakfast in the MDR - no wait, mostly the same food as the Windjammer, and so much calmer! We loved Mamma Mia and OceanAria. We also saw the Headliner Show and Blue Planet. Could have skipped those in our opinion. The kiddo liked the last night comedy show but we thought it was just meh. Too much bathroom humor for me.

We bought the all day coaster pass and thankfully used it twice in the morning. We went back in the afternoon and were told it was closed. So I too went to the Shore Excursions desk and told them about it. They totally refunded our passes too. Very nice.

We thought the Dream Works parade was super fun. Did you guys see that?

I really enjoyed the Allure. So much I booked us on Harmony for the same week next year (Kids Sail Free was there last week, might still be there) even though I had said this Allure cruise was my last Caribbean cruise. The people we were traveling with missed the water slides on Disney, so I'm trying to get them to come on Harmony with us since there are slides. Harmony also goes to CocoCay and that places looks pretty amazing.

Great review - thanks! We did Oasis last year, Eastern itinerary. We enjoyed it but would like to try something different, so thought this itinerary on Allure would be ideal. San Juan and Labadee would be new to us, and St. Maarten was our favorite port from Oasis.

I cruise specifically so that I can lose track of time and everything else.

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I know what you mean, but I find I'm more attuned to the day/time on a cruise than on other vacations! For me, I'm constantly checking the time and looking at the cruise compass to see what's going on. Constantly trying to pinpoint what time we need to go get ready for dinner, what time it is while on an excursion, etc. I lose track of days/times more on an all inclusive resort style vacation.

Thanks for your review. I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise. We've done the Oasis, Allure, and just got off the Harmony yesterday. (We'll definitely be checking out the Symphony.) Sorry your dining experiences were not great. We ate at 4 specialty restaurants on the Allure and it was the best food we've ever had on a cruise! We also loved the flexibility of eating when and where (even buffet for dinner) we wanted. We loved the ice (never heard any bad reviews) and aqua shows but agree that Blue Planet was a bit...unusual. Sorry about the family comedy show. We just saw one on the Harmony 2 nights ago and it was hysterical. Glad we didn't skip it! On our 3rd trip to Labadee we finally made it to Columbus Cove (last week) and really loved it. So funny about the day of the week in the elevator. I rarely noticed it.

Enjoy the Seaside! I haven't been able to pull the trigger and book MSC yet.

Thanks for the review! We are first time cruisers going on Allure- 7 day Western Caribbean in April 2019. I'm trying to learn all I can about cruising and RCL! We reserved My Time dining as well.

Did you buy the drink package- and if so how far in advance? I keep getting e-mails about deals, I just want to wait a little to pay for it. I'm afraid I'll miss out on the special price if I keep waiting.

I know what you mean about having to be aware of the time while on a cruise. We typically only attend a few evening events. Otherwise we’re like “it’s pool day” or “it’s port day”. Maybe someday if we go on a cruise without kids I will attend some of the scheduled activities from the planner. And maybe have a “spa day”. We did actually tour the spa on the first day and they slapped a hot stone on everyone at the end. I would be very into a hot stone massage! We only did the tour to be entered in the drawing for free services, but you had to be present to win and the drawing was at the same exact time as sail away. We were looking forward to experiencing sail away on our balcony for the first time, so we were not present to win!

We kind of figured that a staff person changed the days in the elevator, but we didn’t let on to DS about that. Or we thought it might possibly flip like the next stop on a train did back in the day. I was just made aware that he videoed his solo trip to the elevator that night. It’s pretty funny and if I can figure out how to post it, I will.

We purchased a soda package for the kid and the refreshment package for DH. I didn’t get any drink package for me because I almost always order iced tea with dinner when we go out. (The iced tea on the ship tasted so weird.) I purchased two alcoholic drinks the whole week and DH bought about four. I also stupidly purchased a specialty coffee punch card in advance, I guess not realizing that those drinks were included in DH’s package. I think it has 9 punches left on it and we heard that they are good on any Royal ship. If that’s true and you are heading out on RCL, PM me and I’ll send it to anybody who wants it!

I also advance purchased arcade credits for our son, the combo tickets for Labadee, and our Chops Grille lunch. I did this over time to cashflow an item for the cruise each month. You will notice that the cruise planner page is constantly having ‘sales’ that expire with a countdown clock. Yeah, you are never really missing anything because they have them all the time! There was a letter in our cabin that we had to exchange that first evening at the arcade for the credits to be applied to DS’s sail card. The Labadee tickets were also in our cabin upon boarding, just like for any shore excursion.

I also pre-purchased logo spa slippers for everyone, on sale for a whopping $5, from RCL’s gift website, which is different from the cruise planner page. The site was wonky and as a result only two out of the three pair were there upon boarding, as it never let me put in a delivery date for one pair. A quick call to Guest Services solved that and they were delivered right away. My parents also used the gift website to get me an RCL gift cert for my birthday. They said that they had trouble and ended up having to call to get the cert issued. RCL has a few IT issues to work out, if you haven’t noticed! I input the gift cert number to apply to my sailing as onboard credit as directed from the e-mail I received. I got no verification e-mail or anything that it went through. After about a week I called RCL to ensure that it had applied, and it had. But it was weird that I had no way of knowing whether it went through or not. Upon boarding I got the little card that said you have been gifted onboard credit. So it all worked out, but shouldn’t have been so cumbersome!

DS was fascinated by the Rising Tide Bar. He was happy with a Shirley Temple and looking cool sitting there while the bar made its journey. The posted times on the electronic board did not seem to mean anything. We once asked when will the bar go? And since it was almost full, they made it go right then!

Exiting the ship at the ports was so quick! We never encountered a line. The night before St Maarten we were worried that we might not make it to the dive shop on time, which in the end was silly, as there was no one else around when we were hopping off. Really, I was like, is everyone else hungover? I thought there would be a mad rush. I also liked the towel check out/in system on port days. Very easy and convenient right there on the dock. Hopping back on the ship was always quick and efficient as well. We would then go watch for the runners. If you are new to cruising and don’t know what I’m talking about, YouTube up some ‘running for a cruise ship’ videos!

Coffee cards - We had one on Anthem in January, brought it with us to Brilliance in July, used it up and got a new one, brought that onto Serenade in September, used that up, have a new one that we are bringing onto Symphony in January. So for us, we were allowed to use them on different ships.
Denise

I just did an Allure cruise (with just adults) after having cruised DCL 4 times. Similar to you there were definitely some things I really enjoyed. Loved the Mama Mia and Ocean Aria shows. The adult comedy show was hilarious- best one that I have ever seen. The Monopoly ice show was terrible. Once of the main male skaters fell at least 5 times and the segways between scenes were really choppy. We had a junior suite for a reasonable price and really enjoyed it- there was a huge walk-in closet. However, our room steward was never around. My mom actually had to call about getting water for her C-pap machine and finding the outlet for it. Very different level of service from what I experienced on DCL and my mom experienced on Celebrity.

I cant' really compare the food to DCL because we were able to eat at Coastal Kitchen every night, which we absolutely loved!! We ended up requesting Amear as our server every night after our first night. He was great! One of my other favorite things was that we were able to reserve a cabana on Labadee, which was so worth the money! I would also agree that the pool space on Allure is better than on DCL.

One of the things that I was disappointed about was that it seemed like you had to pay extra for a lot of things compared to on DCL. I was especially surprised at all of the ship activities on sea days that had an additional charge. Similar activities on DCL during the week were free. We paid to do the galley tour with brunch and I was really disappointed in it. They ended up with a large group and you couldn't hear anything that the guide was saying. Also the brunch meal was just ok.

I had a good time, but for the time being I'll be sticking with DCL for my upcoming cruises. They just seem to have a higher level of customer service than what I experienced on RCL.

One of the things that I was disappointed about was that it seemed like you had to pay extra for a lot of things compared to on DCL. I was especially surprised at all of the ship activities on sea days that had an additional charge. Similar activities on DCL during the week were free. We paid to do the galley tour with brunch and I was really disappointed in it. They ended up with a large group and you couldn't hear anything that the guide was saying. Also the brunch meal was just ok.

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Think of it as DCL is priced all inclusive while RCCL is priced a la carte. On DCL, you pay a higher up front cost and have more included. On RCCL, you pay a lower up front cost and pay for what you want on-board. IMO, it evens out in terms of price. I like the a la carte pricing because I'm not subsidizing activities that I'm not taking advantage of.

We kind of figured that a staff person changed the days in the elevator, but we didn’t let on to DS about that. Or we thought it might possibly flip like the next stop on a train did back in the day. I was just made aware that he videoed his solo trip to the elevator that night. It’s pretty funny and if I can figure out how to post it, I will.

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On one hand, I feel bad for the kid since he spent time waiting for it to change. On the other had, add some dramatic music and that video should be great.

We purchased a soda package for the kid and the refreshment package for DH. I didn’t get any drink package for me because I almost always order iced tea with dinner when we go out. (The iced tea on the ship tasted so weird.) I purchased two alcoholic drinks the whole week and DH bought about four. I also stupidly purchased a specialty coffee punch card in advance, I guess not realizing that those drinks were included in DH’s package. I think it has 9 punches left on it and we heard that they are good on any Royal ship. If that’s true and you are heading out on RCL, PM me and I’ll send it to anybody who wants it!

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IIRC iced tea (and the flavoured water) is a concentrate that they mix and dispense. It's not brewed iced tea. More like Crystal Light, Which combined with the concentrate mix probably accounts for the taste.

Exiting the ship at the ports was so quick! We never encountered a line. The night before St Maarten we were worried that we might not make it to the dive shop on time, which in the end was silly, as there was no one else around when we were hopping off. Really, I was like, is everyone else hungover? I thought there would be a mad rush. I also liked the towel check out/in system on port days. Very easy and convenient right there on the dock. Hopping back on the ship was always quick and efficient as well. We would then go watch for the runners. If you are new to cruising and don’t know what I’m talking about, YouTube up some ‘running for a cruise ship’ videos!

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Usually the bottleneck is for those people Going Places that have to get off the ship right away (I think this is true of any cruise ship). But wait 30 minutes or so and everything is pretty manageable.

I think the towel stations are great. And I think most people don't mind them on board. It's the check in/out system that irks people.

My brother and sister-in-law were port runners on our last cruise. Fortunately they booked their Chichen Itza excursion through Royal so the ship waited for their group.

I just did an Allure cruise (with just adults) after having cruised DCL 4 times. Similar to you there were definitely some things I really enjoyed. Loved the Mama Mia and Ocean Aria shows. The adult comedy show was hilarious- best one that I have ever seen. The Monopoly ice show was terrible. Once of the main male skaters fell at least 5 times and the segways between scenes were really choppy. We had a junior suite for a reasonable price and really enjoyed it- there was a huge walk-in closet. However, our room steward was never around. My mom actually had to call about getting water for her C-pap machine and finding the outlet for it. Very different level of service from what I experienced on DCL and my mom experienced on Celebrity.

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It was interesting for us as we rarely saw out stateroom attendant last cruise, and yet you could tell he did a good job and was super-efficient. This worked for us, but none of us use a CPAP machine so the circumstances are a bit different. I hope you made mention of that to guest services or someone.

One of the things that I was disappointed about was that it seemed like you had to pay extra for a lot of things compared to on DCL. I was especially surprised at all of the ship activities on sea days that had an additional charge. Similar activities on DCL during the week were free. We paid to do the galley tour with brunch and I was really disappointed in it. They ended up with a large group and you couldn't hear anything that the guide was saying. Also the brunch meal was just ok.

Think of it as DCL is priced all inclusive while RCCL is priced a la carte. On DCL, you pay a higher up front cost and have more included. On RCCL, you pay a lower up front cost and pay for what you want on-board. IMO, it evens out in terms of price. I like the a la carte pricing because I'm not subsidizing activities that I'm not taking advantage of.

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I usually avoid the "a la carte" activities on Royal. Did a wine tasting on Harmony once and it was fine, but I think for me I simply try to maximize my enjoyment of the "free" things. Or, you know, I lie around and do nothing.

I usually avoid the "a la carte" activities on Royal. Did a wine tasting on Harmony once and it was fine, but I think for me I simply try to maximize my enjoyment of the "free" things. Or, you know, I lie around and do nothing.

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And that's why RCCL's pricing approach appeals to like-minded people. You're not paying for the activities you're not interested in.

Starvenger – A special thank you to you for all of the info that you constantly share on this board! As an RCL first timer I learned a lot from you! I figured I should come back here after sailing and share a recent experience – that is why I dated the title of this thread. As we all know, a cruise line could change a policy next week, thus making something I said in my review out of date! And I just love all the sharing that takes place on the DIS! I enjoy being around all you vacation uber-planners!

An actual overheard in an elevator comment regarding the ice show – “I mean, those people were trying their a$$es off, but the show they had to perform was just terrible!” I get that having an ice rink on a ship is a really cool thing, but perhaps RCL needs to rework the product. And I agree that the family comedy show was just bathroom humor. They were just the regular late-night comics who had to take out the swear words and come up with a ‘family’ show. My kid laughed of course, but it wasn’t anything genius.

On the first day we left a note for our steward asking for distilled water for DH’s CPAP and a gallon magically appeared while we were out. We rarely saw our steward but she did a great job for us. We liked the magnet on the door that you flipped over based on ‘sleeping off the adventure’ or ‘out having fun, please make up the room’. I had thought of making some of my own magnets, like I did for DCL, but in the end I didn’t. There were a few door decorations around and it was always fun to see who was celebrating an anniversary, where people were from, etc.

I had read that RCL nickel and dimed you to death once on the ship. Much like starvenger, we just don’t see a need to spend much additional. After paying a very reasonable fare to get on the ship, we had our add-ons that we pre-purchased so we got what we wanted out of our trip. Our folio for the week was under $400, and that included the daily gratuities, as well as credits, so we came out pretty good! And we certainly did not feel like we missed out on anything. It’s just important that people do their research beforehand and sort of know what to expect when trying a new line. Like after spending months learning about RCL, I am now doing the same for MSC!